Evans, James: 1801-1846. Born Kingston-upon-Hull, England; converted to Methodism; followed parents to Canada, 1822; appointed to take charge of Rice Lake School, 1828; studied Ojibway and sought to express it in syllabic rather than alphabetic form; appointed Methodist deacon and sent as missionary to Mud Lake and Rice Lake (1830), Credit Mission (1831), Ancaster (1832); ordained and stationed at St Catherine's (1833), Sarnia (1834), Lake Superior area (1838), Guelph; by 1836 developing written language system in syllabics; appointed Superintendent of Missions of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in the Hudson's Bay Territory, stationed at Norway House, 1840; perfected and found acceptance for his system of syllabic characters for Cree language; with hand-made materials printed Cree syllabic hymnbook, the first book printed in the Canadian West; sent to London to be investigated on various charges by Wesleyan Society; died in Kelby, England, before investigation complete (Victoria University Library). // This is said to have been the first book printed in Western Canada; 100 copies were made. Evans invented a system of writing for the Cree nation. He made letter moulds from oak, type metal from the lead of bullets and tea-chest linings, and ink from chimney soot. Also published, Norway House, Man., Wesleyan Missionary Society, Rossville Mission Press, 1841 (20p.; bound in elkskin wrapper with a syllabary on front and back covers, with each sign repeated.). Text in Cree syllabics. Also published in facsimile, with English translation by Raymond B. Horsefield, edited by Margaret V. Ray, as Cree syllabic hymn book , Toronto: [Bibliographical Society of Canada], 1954 (23p.). For a listing of the imprints of the Rossville Mission Press see Bruce Peel, "Rossville Mission Press: Press, prints, and translators" in Papers of the Bibliographic Society of Canada , vol.1, 1962, pages 28-43. See also Bruce Peel, "Frustrations of the missionary-printer of Rossville: Reverend William Mason" in Bulletin of the Committee on Archives of the United Church of Canada , no.18, 1965, pages 20-25 and Roger Burford-Mason, Travels in the shining island: The story of James Evans and the invention of the Cree syllabary alphabet , Toronto: Natural Heritage Books, 1996.

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews